Ada's Andy Matthews leads Michigan Open after two rounds; five of 11 Flint-area players make cut

ORCHARD LAKE, Michigan — After 36 holes at the Michigan Open, one thing has become perfectly clear.

It's going to take a lot of birdies to take home the $10,000 top prize.

Nobody knows that better than leader Andy Matthews of Ada and defending champion Ryan Brehm of Mount Pleasant, who will be playing together in the final group during Wednesday's third round.

Matthews, who won the 2001 Michigan Amateur at Flint Golf Club, shot 5-under-par 66 in Tuesday's second round at Orchard Lake Country Club to take a one-shot lead over Brehm at 12-under 130 in the $70,000 Michigan PGA event.

Out of 309 rounds played in the first two days, there were 91 sub-par scores, including 58 in the 60s. The cut was 2-over-par 144 compared to 6-over 148 a year ago and 20 amateurs made the cut.

“It's going to be fun the next two days,” said Matthews, who plays on the Canadian PGA Tour. “Keep your foot on the gas, that's for sure. There's a ton of golf left. There's a lot of birdie opportunities out there.

“I'm going to go out tomorrow and make as many as I can.”

That's the same approach Brehm is going to take after also shooting 66 for a 36-hole total of 11-under 131.

“You have to put the pedal to the metal,” said Brehm, who plays on the Hooters Tour. “You have to stay aggressive otherwise you'll get lapped. You have to finish out the tournament or you're going to get waxed.

“I'm going to try and play the golf course. I feel like I have a pretty good game plan.”

Joining Matthews and Brehm in the final group Wednesday will be Muskegon's Andrew Ruthkoski, whose 65 was the second-lowest round of the day Tuesday and left him alone in third at 9-under 133.

Matthews, who won the Mexican PGA Championship this year, hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 greens.

“It was solid,” said Matthews, who has played in two PGA Tour events this year. “Other than a couple of par saves I made, I never flirted with making bogey. It's nice to keep moving in that direction on the leaderboard rather than giving up ground because guys are shooting low numbers and making putts.

“I felt more relaxed than yesterday. I was pretty confident in what I was doing out there. I made more putts yesterday but I felt better on the greens today.”

Brehm isn't expecting a runaway victory like last year, when he won by eight shots over former Flushing resident Jeff Roth and Battle Creek's Matt Thompson.

“Last year, I had a pretty big lead but this year that's not going to be the story,” said Brehm, a former Michigan State star. “I think it's going to be pretty bunched up from here on out. It's pretty hard to separate. There are a lot of guys who are capable of making birdies.

“I'm happy to get out with 66. It was kind of an emotional roller coaster. I did a a pretty good job of battling.”

It wasn't a great day for the Flint-area players in the field as only five of the 11 local players survived the cut. Leading the way was Eric Kuhlman of The Fortress, who shot his second straight 2-under 69 to
grab a share of 15th place at 4-under 138.

Missing the cut from the Flint-area were Fenton's Tommy Howell with 70-75—145; Fenton's Travis Peitz with 79-70—149; King Par's Joel Hoffman and Fenton's Rick Crandall, who both shot 74-77—151; Flint's Layne Lucia with 82-75—157; and King Par's Andrew Mogg with 77-80—157.